Aren't Swimming Pools for Swimming?

Got to the pool yesterday afternoon to find an interesting and unusual assortment of characters. The "baby pool" was filled with probably 8 or 10 not petite, non-English speaking adult men playing water basketball. Okaaayyy. So that probably explains why one of the lanes of the regular pool is filled with screaming, splashing kids. There were four other lanes for swimming at the time, all of them occupied with 1-2 people, so Stuart hopped in there. The last lane is reserved for (primarily kids') swim lessons, but the swim instructor likes me so she lets me share the lane.

Start swimming and after about 20min I almost run into the backside of an elderly woman. WTF? "Um, ma'am? I'm here, and because of the swim lesson we can't circle swim so you need to change lanes." She harumphs, but leaves the pool. The coach thanks me, since this lady has apparently done this before. Next time I see her she has again slid into another lane without notifying the existing swimmers, and is again slowly slowly slowly bobbing her way down the lane. Unfortunately, she happened to choose Stuart's lane. sorry, honey!

Only a few minutes more pass and it's time for the dreaded water aerobics. That's right. A dozen or so women bobbing up and down in place claim ownership of three lanes of the pool. We usually try to time our workouts to be done or close to done before this happens, both because the principle of water aerobics annoys us and because it means only two lanes are available for swimming. But....don't forget all those screaming, splashing kids. They now run over and jump in one of the two available lanes....where three women are already trying to do their workouts! I finally stop swimming to watch the carnage. At this point, there are now SIX adults swimming in one lane, 4 kids playing in one lane, a dozen or so "aerobics" people, and me in the instruction lane. I got a bit more of my workout done, but to be honest, Stuart couldn't take it so I agreed to leave with him.

Needless to say, I'll be talking to the pool management today. Seriously, why are we paying for access to a swimming pool if swimming is the activity that the management seems least interested in accommodating? The poor onsite manager is just a teenager - she was ill equipped to get the adults out of the baby pool and the kids out of a lap lane. I struggle as it is to get myself to the pool and try to pretend that I enjoy it. Why do they have to conspire to make it that much tougher?

Pollen & the Ride from Hell

Stuart and I were supposed to do the Howard County Life Festival 100K on Sunday. But apparently we forgot to sign up, and by the time we got online on Saturday it was full. oops. I was looking at the bright side, I really wanted another long ride on my Orbea, so we could do 60 ourselves on the trail. By the time we left the house at about 10:20a.m. it was already 80 degrees. I'd smeared myself all over with sunscreen to avoid a repeat of last week's sunburn.

I was feeling good as we neared Reston when my eyes began to act up from the pollen and dryness. And that was the story for the rest of the day. Ride a few miles until my eyes started to swell shut and then pull over. Clean the contacts, sit with my eyes closed and let them water. Stopping at every water fountain to flush my eyes with fresh cold water. It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. I made it to Smith's Switch which meant my ride would be about 44miles roundtrip. Decent, but not ideal. While sitting there wishing I could be magically transported home, I got a text from Stuart that he had made it to Leesburg and was turning around. That was incentive to start moving, trying to maybe stay ahead of him the whole trip back.

That second half was a mix of emotions and feelings. When I got moving, I was really hauling. Pulling a few other girls on bikes at over 19mph. And then my eyes would act up, and I'd pull off to the side again. I was feeling low on energy, my morale was low, and I don't think it was a nutrition thing. It was more about the amount of time and energy that I was pouring into my eyes and keeping them open while on the trail.

I beat Stuart home by only about 5minutes. Once inside, I popped out my contacts and wore my glasses the rest of the day. And as someone who HATES her glasses, that means it was bad. They were still swollen and sore at bedtime.

Now starting taper week, and rather than feeling confident going into this race in two weeks, I'm scared. Already a lesson learned that early season long-course might not be for me, but still uneasy that I'm not ready at all. We'll see.

On a more promising note, the warmer weather is paying off. Lake Anna is up to a balmy 61 degrees!

The Lessons of Susan Boyle

As I was reading CNN.com this morning, I came upon a commentary by Peter Bregman about the “Britain’s Got Talent” performer, Susan Boyle. When I finally broke down and clicked on the You Tube link last week, I found myself overwhelmed. There’s been tons of news coverage over the last few weeks, but reading his column today, I think he summed up very eloquently my thoughts. I’m condensing and excerpting the pieces of it that touch me the most (you can read the entire column here).

“Susan Boyle, who recently performed on the U.K. television show "Britain's Got Talent," has captured the world's attention …. She wasn't painfully ordinary; she was amazingly extraordinary. The audience immediately jumped to a standing ovation and stayed there until the end of the song. The YouTube video of Susan's performance has, as of Tuesday, received more than 35 million views…..

But there's something else Susan Boyle awakens in us as we watch her come out of her shell: our own selves. Who among us does not move through life with the hidden sense, maybe even quiet desperation, that we are destined for more? That underneath our ordinary exterior lays an extraordinary soul? That given the right opportunity, the right stage, the right audience, we would shine as the stars we truly are?

That promise underlies most successful advertising campaigns: the desire to transform from caterpillar to butterfly. Maybe if you buy that (fill in the blank), people will see you for the sophisticated, cool, gorgeous, talented, lovable person you know you really are. But in our less desperate moments, we know we can't purchase that transformation. Although Susan Boyle became an overnight sensation, hers was not an overnight transformation. She's been practicing singing since she was 12. In her case, overnight was 35 years.

It's easy to admire Susan. But it's far more interesting to be transformed by her. "There is grace," a friend recently wrote to me, "in being molded by your own gifts."

To allow yourself to be molded by your own gifts takes courage. You have to be willing to stand there, exposed and authentic, while the audience rolls their eyes at you and sneers, expecting failure. And then, of course, you have to fail, laugh or cry, and keep going until, one day, they stop laughing and start clapping.

But you can't do it alone….If we're lucky, we have parents who encourage us. Nothing really replaces a mother or father who believes in you. But even if you don't have parents who believe in you, it's important to have someone. Someone you trust, enough that when they offer criticism, you know it's to draw you out more fully, not shut you down even partially….

Susan Boyle is a phenomenal role model for all of us, not just because of her talent or her courage or her perseverance or her supportive friends. She is a phenomenal role model for us because she is us, in all our awkward ordinariness and amazing extraordinariness.”

To me, Peter Bregman captured what I was feeling but unable to express as I watched the video and found the music sticking in my head the rest of the day. Whether we dare to dream big or simply just survive the day-to-day of our offices, classrooms, neighborhoods and worlds, we need courage. Courage, plus the love and support of those around us, lets us move mountains. Maybe not immediately or in hugely visible ways, but bit by bit moving ourselves closer to the person we want to be.

This week with my Girls on the Run we talked about standing up for ourselves, expressing our own feelings, and learning how to evaluate and make good decisions. Heavy stuff for 8 and 9-year olds. But listening to their reactions to the games and questions I posed, they seemed to get it. It’s scary to be yourself, to refuse to surrender to the will of the cliques around you, and to learn to listen and trust that little voice inside. And yet they were articulating that they know it will only get harder as they get older, that the choices will be even tougher. My hope for each of them is not that they will be guffawing in the audience, but instead on the stage of life with their heads held high and the joy of living a real and honest life shining through them.

Race Rehearsal

Today was just gorgeous! Sunny and warm with highs in the 70s by midday. After a morning trip to the nursery to buy some compost and a holly bush for the front yard, it was time to hit the trail (no flowers, since Monday night there is the tiniest chance for frost). Unbelievably, considering I have a half ironman in only three weeks, today was my first day with the tri bike on the trail instead of the trainer. At first I was nervous -- what if I'd forgotten how to ride him? But I settled in easily. And apparently the winter core work paid off, since although my shoulders and back are sore today, I didn't really struggle too much with the aero position. What I had forgotten though, was the difference in pressure points in my "sit region". Ouch. I'll definitely need some Vaseline on hand for the run to help insure the chafing and swelling doesn't worsen during the half marathon.

On our first attempt to leave the house, I realized about 2miles in that I hadn't lubed my chain, and I could hear the raspiness as it scraped against the gears and derailleur, so we turned around. The second time leaving the house, somehow we made different turns off our street and got separated. Twenty minutes later, thanks to the cellphone of some girls holding a bakesale on the side of the trail, we connected again. Finally we reconnected, and settled in for the afternoon. It was a pretty ride, and surprisingly the trail wasn't too crowded. At one point I found myself getting discouraged, and contemplated pulling out of the race. After all, this early season thing is harder than I thought. Before voicing that idea, I convinced myself to drink a little more, suck down some Infinit and push ahead. We stopped at about the half way point to pose for a quick photo before heading for home. Luckily I was in a much better state of mind once the nutrition took hold. We realized at the stop how salty my skin was -- the air was dry so my sweat was evaporating immediately, making me unaware of how dehydrated I was. One potential explanation for that drop in mood and energy a while back.

On our way back home, we stopped at the same bake sale. They were packing up by that point, but I'd promised we'd stop and buy something as a thank you for helping us earlier. All they had left were two gooey lemon bars. I bought one -- it tasted like lemon pie with a crumbly top. Yum! And much better than another gel or two before the transition run waiting for me at home. Finally, we were done. 52miles in 3:15 for a 16mph average. Not bad considering all the stops and starts at intersections.

I SO didn't feel like running for 50-60min, but I'll have to run longer than that in a few weeks, so I wouldn't be doing myself any favors by skipping out on it. A quick change into a fresh pair of shorts, strapped on the Fuel Belt, and I was out the door with Nick. Stuart had expected that I would get a mile or two in, and was encouraging me to aim for three.


Instead, I picked a painfully slow pace (still not slow enough to be Z1-2 as the plan called for), but ran the entire 5miles with a happy happy dog at my side. By late afternoon, the trail was actually a lot busier, lots of couples walking with strollers or small children, and still a decent number of cyclists. I kept wanting to make excuses for my snail's pace, but realized that no one was paying attention to me except for me.

A little less than an hour later, we were home. Both of us tired and panting, but happy. Hmm, they say no headphones on the race course, but I don't recall anything specifically banning dogs. Maybe Nick could join me??

Water watch has begun...

25 or so days until the Kinetic Half. I check online the water temps at Lake Anna. As of yesterday, they are still a charmingly chilly 55 degrees. brrr....

Wildlife

Not exactly the most pleasantly warm weather for an Easter weekend. I'm getting worried that the lake is going to be FREEZING in four weeks if the weather doesn't heat up soon. 1.2miles in sub-60 degree water is going to suck in a big way.

Anyway, despite the odd weather patterns, I managed to get in 2-1/2hrs of riding on Saturday and a 1+hr run on Easter Sunday morning. Billy and I headed out on Saturday in the gray drizzly rain, riding down to Georgetown to watch one of his classmates in a crew regatta. Thet rails were definitely slick with water and magnolia and cherry blossom petals, so speed wasn't exactly a factor.

We got back to the house, where Billy called it quits (he had a concert to go to) and Stuart and I headed west on the trail for another 90min or so. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun even came out, although the temps were still only about 60 degrees. The weather is wacky, but the animals are clearly all coming out of their winter hidey-holes. Bright red cardinals were everywhere. Stuart pulled off the side of the trail at one point to help a box turtle get safely across the road. While we were pulled over, we realized that our tires were covered in worm bits. As if that wasn't gross enough, as we rode through Vienna we saw a dead, mostly smooshed rat lying in the middle of the trail. GROSS!!! How it ended up there, dead and smooshed, is beyond me. But it was totally disgusting.

Yesterday morning was Easter. I knew the day would be busy cooking and entertaining -- Billy and his girlfriend were here, as were our niece and her fiance. So I grabbed Nick and we slipped out of the house at 7am. Easy recovery pace for 65 minutes before getting home and showering for Mass. Dinner ended up being a re-creation of the meal we learned to cook in Florence in cooking school back in 2001, and that we cooked as our first Easter meal together. Slight modifications, but basically the same. yummy! And lucky for us, we have leftovers for tonight. Even better!

Ended the afternoon watching the Ironman 70.3 World Championships special on NBC back-to-back with Vs' showing of Paris-Roubaix. LOVED IT ALL!!!

And the season begins

My first triathlon is still a little over a month away, but my first race of the season was this morning. We've done the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler for the past four or five years. The last two years I pushed hard, and achieved a PR both times - even if last year was only by a measly 3 seconds. This year I was truly approaching this as a training run.

We biked to packet pickup yesterday, and now I understand why I've never headed to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. The crush of people was absolutely overwhelming. Thousands of people, cars in gridlock. Bikes were really the only option, it would have taken hours to drive down there. We didn't even bother to stop and snap the requisite romantic photo under a tree - we just wanted to get out of there.

No neighbors to run it with us this year so Stuart and I caught the metro together at 6:30. We were both sporting our Girls on the Run hats, and ended up talking with a woman about how to start the program at her school in Falls Church. A few others standing near us were listening and one apparently works with a fellow Board member. Mission accomplished before the race even started -- to raise awareness of the program and generate some interest.

It was a picture perfect morning to run a race. Beautiful sunshine, temp right around 50 at the start, and the cherry blossoms were in total bloom. Stuart and I were in different waves, so as is our tradition, kissed each other goodbye and promised to be safe and healthy. I took a quick picture before he slipped away.

The Girls on the Run theme continued, as the woman I coached with my very first season was just a few places behind me in the porta-potty line! It was great to see her and chat. And then I was in my corral. No heart rate monitor, just a promise to myself that this was not a race. It was a training run for the Kinetic Half.

The gun sounded and I was off. And almost from the start I was in my own world. I'd say more than half the field had iPods, even though they were forbidden, so there wasn't much conversation anyways. I watched for Stuart the few times that the field doubled back on itself, but never did see him.

The first mile I hit at 10:04, good but frankly not slow enough. I dialed it back a tiny bit and kept moving. But one after the other, the miles still hovered around 10:30. I could live with that as a solid mid-distance aerobic pace! Guess all those tough =PR= runs are paying off. My posterior tib started acting up around mile 5, but good karma came to my rescue. A woman about 8ft ahead of me dropped her sunglasses. Almost without breaking stride, I picked them up, passed them to the guy between us who handed them back to her. And miraculously the pain subsided for awhile!

But I realized today that the best way to stave off the discomfort is to run off-road. Whenever possible, I ran on the grassy berms instead of the road. Thank goodness Hains Point was the last three miles of the race instead of the first three. Running on the grass made a huge difference in my ability to keep moving. I walked two water stations for about 20 seconds to grab water (it warmed up quickly this morning) and stopped once to stretch. But before I knew it, I could see the Washington Monument and passed that 9mile point. This was a training run, so I didn't increase my speed but just kept steady as I crossed the finish line and slowed to a walk. 1:46:13. I'm happier with that than I was with last year's PR where I felt like I'd worked so hard for just three seconds. Today showed my aerobic pace has increased. If I can hold that for 13.1 miles in May, I'll be so stoked!

I hopped the metro home - coincidentally the same one Stuart was on just in a separate car (he'd waited at the finish line for me, contrary to our initial plans). A short while later, our "showering optional" post party meant a house full of sweaty estrogen as a number of our awesome running female friends came over for sandwichs and plenty of salty and sweet treats.

A relaxing afternoon, followed by 45minutes of lifting at the gym. Time for a shower, dinner and a good night's sleep before tomorrow's swim. If today is an indicator of 2009, and I hope it is, I'm in for a good year!

Luna Chix =PR= Run

Another Thursday night run with Potomac River Running. Team Luna Chix is now sponsoring the first run of each month, so there was a great turnout last night. Between those Luna Chix and the warmer weather, there were probably 15 women. Talk about a range of paces! I offered to be the caboose, but so did Laura who is Luna Chix extraordinaire. So I ended up doing this weird mixed pace, most of it on the very very hard end for me trying to hang with Laura and some of her teammates. Great workout but humbling.

We ran the Custis Trail between the store and basically my house. Most of the women weren’t familiar with it. I ended up in a mid-place no man’s land as I got to the turn-around point, so let the women I was with go ahead while I waited for the back of the pack so that they didn’t accidentally keep going. A minute or two later Laura appears at the top of the hill and whistles for me. The last few women had turnaround at the mid-point so I was now the back of the pack!! We picked up the pace until we came upon a few of the mid-pack women and then strung ourselves out over about 1/4mile on the way home.

Good but tough run. The Luna Chix support the Breast Cancer Fund and so had a trivia question with a giveaway, and I won! Some yummy luna moon chews for my weekend ride. 2 Luna bars in their two newest flavors. And one of those cool travel coffee mugs. Lucky for me that I’m developing a very tiny coffee habit. I was sore as I went to bed last night – that good kind of sore. The sore that tells you that hard work was done, and a tiny bit more fitness was gained.

Sticking with it

Yesterday, I missed my first scheduled workout in three weeks. I've been very disciplined and focused in this final run-up to my first race of the season, but last night I was exhausted. I practically fell asleep driving home from work. So a nap rather than spin class and a run was the right decision.

Tonight was a tough swim workout I'd been dreading all week. Stuart and I went together -- his second time in the pool since January thanks to his shoulder. After Monday's awesome swim, I should have been prepared for a rough night. I just could not get in the rhythm. 50yds and I was out of breath. I was supposed to do 8x300's at faster than race pace on only 15-30 seconds of rest. Tough work! And I just couldn't get it moving. I was pausing for air and a drink of water after every 100yds. It was miserable.

Stuart hit 1500yds and was done. I was so tempted to call it quits and get out of the pool with him. Instead, I sent him to the store and told him to come back and grab me when he was done. That way I'd have nothing to do except stay in the pool and swim. Eventually, after what felt like an 1800yd warmup I started to get in the groove. I still only swam 2500yds, but that last 800 or so were the best of the night. My form felt on, my speed had improved, and I cranked through a couple of those 300s feeling good and proud.

Something I've really focused on the last year or so is my mental toughness. When I think of myself, I always want to describe myself as tough, strong and assertive. Yet, deep inside I know that I can easily talk myself out of or into anything. When no one is looking, it's easy to cut corners. I'm realizing, though, that I'm letting myself down. And even if they don't know it, I'm letting down my Girls on the Run, friends, colleagues or others who might claim to admire or respect me for some reason. I owe it to them, not just to me, to not quit. Workouts like tonight are ones I need to remember. Just because the start is slow, awkward or tough, doesn't mean that workout or that race or even that day are a waste. Finding the strength to push through the rough spots is what bit by bit reinforces that original strength. The ultimate "do loop" in the words of my husband.